Anticipating the Future: Creating Best Practices in Virtual Learning for Secondary Learners With Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

This paper explores how virtual education could be improved for special needs students, particularly students with severe autism spectrum disorder between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two. These students were thrust into virtual education at the onset of the pandemic with no warning and educators found themselves ill-prepared to support students. Based on interviews with teachers, parents, and therapists about the failures of virtual education, future trends in the special needs education space, and ongoing research on how COVID-19 impacted disabled students, this paper suggests concrete methods to improve virtual teaching practices. The world is a volatile place; therefore, it is vital that educators are prepared and equipped with the best possible tools and strategies to continue virtual education.

Author

• Tamara Lee Jacobson, Baylor University
  Presenting Author